Facilities
The ACEER Foundation supports its education
and research programs in the Amazon with classrooms, field
labs, canopy access systems, demonstration gardens, interpreted
trails, and nature interpretation centers for researchers,
students and others.
Click
here for fee structure.
The new ACEER-Tambopata at Inkaterra (ATI) is funded
in part by a $300,000 grant from the National Geographic Society.
The ACEER Foundation has immediate access to the various private
reserves currently under management by Inkaterra, a Peruvian
eco-tourism company. Their reserves include, Reserva Amazónica
Ecological Reserve, and a 340-hectare parcel of primary and
secondary rainforest where ATI is located. This parcel joins
the Tambopata Reserve and Lake Sandoval, a huge oxbow lake
known for its concentrations of birds and butterflies. Both
reserves are located within a 40-minute boat ride of Puerto
Maldonado, the capital of the Madre de Dios region of Peru.
The ACEER Foundation invites visitors to our new facilities
and participation in our research and education programs described
throughout our web site. Overnight lodging, meals and services
for visitors will be provided by Inkaterra Peru. Their lodge,
Reserva Amazónica is located 7km downriver from ACEER-Tambopata
and within a 10,000-hectare private reserve. ACEER education
programs will also include opportunities to visit and study
the cloud forests of the Andes and the "Lost City of
the Incas"-- Machu Picchu. Inkaterra will also provide
travel services and lodging for these programs. To read more
about their services and facilities in Puerto Maldonado and
the Andes, use this link to visit the their website. http://www.inkaterra.com
 Below is a description of the facilities at ACEER-Tambopata
at Inkaterra. Return often to follow our progress, and
please accept our invitation to visit us. We also invite your
direct support of our initiatives in the Amazon Rainforest.
Go to Get Involved to learn
how to become a Friend of the ACEER.
A Nature Interpretation Center (NIC) has been created in the
main building at ATI to educate and inform individuals about
the physical, biological, and cultural elements of the region.
Scientific research conducted at the site, flora and fauna
assessment studies, climatic data, and traditional knowledge
of the environment gained from local villagers form the information
base at the Center. Meeting space to accommodate various interest
groups is provided at the NIC. A unique aspect of the NIC
will be the creation of a distance learning capacity to permit
live video-conferencing; web-based learning; Internet chat
rooms; and access to field and remotely sensed environmental
data. Such a capacity will not only foster better sharing
of research data, but will be a truly unique way to bring
alive the ecology and culture of the region to teachers, students
and their families around the world.
 A
major exhibit, Madre de Dios: River of Change,
designed by the National Geographic Society, tells the story
of the remarkable regions, its current challenges, its people,
and what the future may hold. The literal centerpiece of the
exhibit is a unique 100 square feet floor graphic of a breathtaking
satellite image of the Madre de Dios regions from the foothills
of the Andes to the lowland rainforest. ACEER's strategic
location can clearly be seen as well as impacts from deforestation,
roads, and gold mining. Funding for the exhibit was provided
by the National Geographic Society; our thanks to the entire
staff of Explorer's Hall at NGS headquarters in Washington,
DC for their efforts to design, construct, and install our
exhibit. Click here for a "tour"
of the exhibit.
ACEER’s new Gardens were dedicated by Dr. James Duke
and Don Antonio Montero Pisco, March 7, 2004. Visitors to
the Gardens at ATI can study over 200 species at the main
Jardín de Plantas Medicinales; in the Children’s
Rainforest Garden; and along the 3.5 km Useful Plants Trail
that highlights an additional 125 species of economically
valuable plants. You can also visit portions of a restored
plantation, and study the unique aquatic plants associated
with riverine, lake and wetlands habitats. The Gardens at
ATI are the latest commitment by ACEER to promoting and protecting
the rich botanical heritage of the Amazon Rainforest.
The Gardens at ATI serve as the focal point for a new environmental
education program for the school children of the Madre de
Dios region. The program, De la Escuela al Jardín (From the
School to the Garden) under the direction of Licia Silva
Ortiz, brings school children from Puerto Maldonado and surrounding
communities to ATI to learn about the rainforest firsthand
through field studies at the Gardens and many forest trials.
An ambient laboratory at ATI was dedicated in October 2005. The
lab has dedicated space for sample analysis and preparation,
and is equipped with running water, work benches, storage facilities,
showers and bathrooms. Funds for the lab were provided
by Chris and Sharon Davidson.
An interpreted trail system provides individuals an opportunity
to discover differences between terra firme and flooded forests;
primary and secondary growth; and the ability of the forest
to re-establish biodiversity after disturbances. Work by Dr.
Alwyn Gentry suggests that a major feature of Amazonia is the
profuse array of micro-niches that help explain the zoological
and botanical diversity of this region. Our trail systems will
bring this phenomenon to all ACEER visitors. Also of note,
is our Useful Plants Trail that provides the opportunity to
view a widerange of medicinal and useful trees and plants
in their native habitat, and serves as a living classroom and
laboratory.
Visitors to ATI can study the biodiversity of the forest
canopy at the Inkaterra Canopy Walkway, within the 10,000
hectare Inkaterra Ecological Reserve across the river from
ATI. It consists of an ascent tower, 400 meters of
tree-top walkways and a descent tower.
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